Corning Glass Science and Engineering Laboratory

Overview

The Corning Glass Science and Engineering Laboratory is a facility funded in large part by a grant from Corning Incorporated and established to provide a resource for basic and applied research in glass science and engineering and to provide an interdisciplinary facility for undergraduate and graduate instruction in glass processing. The School of Engineering provides support funding.

Operations

The principal function of the laboratory is to provide for the melting and heat treating of glass under ambient conditions to 1700 C. Numerous furnaces and lehrs exist for this purpose.  

Professor Lehman (rllehman@rutgers.edu) and Professor Goel (ashutosh.goel@rutgers.edu) direct activities in the laboratory. Additionally, a group of student technicians is responsible for specific day to day operations. This group currently consists of six students:

Major Equipment

The laboratory contains eight furnaces. The major melting furnaces are capable of melting up to 1700 C under ambient conditions. The furnaces are controlled locally by PLCs and remotely from the work stations.

  • Nabertherm large volume annealing and heat treating furnace, 1300 C maximum.
  • Thermaltek elevator furnace for crucible melting glass, 1700 C.
  • Deltech elevator furnace for crucible melting glass, 1650 C.
  • Carbolite elevator furnace for crucible melting glass, 1700 C.
  • Thermolyne annealing and heat treating furnaces, 1200 C (2).
  • Carbolite elevator furnace for crucible melting glass, 1700 C.
  • Thermolyne annealing and heat treating furnace, 1200 C.

Funding and Support

The laboratory was established and equipped through a major gift from Corning Incorporated and a matching gift from the Dean of the School of Engineering. Both Corning and the engineering dean provide additional funds for the operation of the lab. Substantial in-kind contributions were made by Corning with regard to laboratory design assistance with an additional level of outstanding support from the Corning Advanced Melting and Processing Laboratory team.